Brasilia, January 14 (RHC-EFE) –- Brazil accepted a total of 2,320 refugees from other countries, mostly from Syria, in 2014, compared to 651 applications approved the previous year, the Justice Ministry said.

The bulk of the increase reflected the granting of refugee status to Syrian citizens fleeing the civil war in their country. Syrians are now the largest group among refugees arriving in Brazil.

Brazil now has 6,942 refugees from 80 different national origins, including 1,739 Syrians, 1,071 Angolans, 834 Colombians and 799 citizens from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Last year, Brazil received 8,302 applications for asylum, compared to 5,882 in 2013, the National Committee for Refugees, a Justice Ministry agency, said.

In 2014, Brazil received a large number of Haitians, but their applications were processed by the National Council on Immigration and they were not treated as refugee cases.